Convert Hong Kong dollar [HKD] to Fijian dollar [FJD] • Currency Exchange Rates • Common Unit Converters • Compact Calculator • Online Unit Converters (2024)

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Overview

The word “currency” refers to several notions: a set of items used for trade, a set of all forms of money issued by a particular country or region, banknotes, or all money in the world currently in circulation.

History of Currency

The need for currency arose with the growth in trade. Historically people exchanged goods and services based on the barter system, where a product or a service produced by one person was exchanged for a product or a service produced by another person. The need for variety in products was low during early history. For example, if one person made weapons like arrows, and another person was good at hunting, then exchanging food for weapons was simple, because it was easy to find someone with a need for food, as well as with a need for weapons. In addition to barter, people exchanged gifts, and some researchers believe that this provided an insurance that gift receivers will reciprocate at a later time. Anthropologists debate whether gifts can be given without the expectation of reciprocity, but it seems that in most societies reciprocity happens as part of the gift-giving, whether it is expected or not.

As human needs grew and became more complicated, it was more difficult to find a person who wanted the product that one produced, and at the same time had the product that one needed. In addition, with the growth of agriculture, it was difficult to exchange the two crops with different harvest times. For example, a family producing spring crops could only exchange them then, even if they needed late summer crops in return, so without some kind of the third medium of exchange, they could not get what they needed. Currency became such a medium.

Early Currency

In the earlier days of currency, people started trading items that are durable but not easy to find, for example, cowry shells or ivory. When early mining developed, people traded metals, then precious metals and precious stones, as well as pearls.

In some parts of Africa, special metal bracelets called manillas were traded. They had a peculiar shape of an incomplete ring, with pointed edges, and were commonly associated with the slave trade. Particular kinds of manillas were only accepted at certain markets, and manillas were commonly made in Europe and exported to Africa, although some African-made manillas also exist. Some rich individuals wore manillas to display their wealth, and developed a peculiar kind of walk because of the weight of the many manillas they wore. Such display is similar to the tradition of wearing diamonds or gold jewelry that is still practiced today in many countries.

Coins

To ensure that the value of the exchanged precious items is always equivalent, people started to make coins with pre-determined weights. Each coin had identifying marks, signifying its value and maker. Eventually, to avoid forgery, these coins started to be issued by the government or a special body, established just for that purpose. These coins became the currency of a given region. Currency allowed easier trade within the region, and across different regions.

In the beginning, coins were traded based on the actual weight of the precious metal that they were made of. Thus countries that had larger supplies of a given metal had heavier coins. Later coins became representatives of value, regardless of the amount and the rareness of the materials that they were made out of. They are manufactured at factories called mints. Portraits of the country rulers often appear on the coins; this has been done since the times of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Banknotes

As the volume of traded goods increased, so did the amounts of coins that the merchants had to carry with them. This was both heavy and dangerous. Robbers and pirates seized these coins, and merchants lost not only their merchandise but also money when ships sank, even if the crew could escape because it was not possible to rescue the heavy coins. With the invention of the printing press it became possible to print large amounts of material, and with time printed currency called banknotes became adopted. Some of the first paper money was made in China and in the medieval Islamic world, and the idea was later adopted in Europe. At the beginning banknotes were a promissory agreement between the bank and the customer, stating that the banknote can be exchanged for coin currency at any time. Eventually, it became currency by itself. Some of the first banknotes were made of leather, around the 7th century in China. The market value of a banknote, considering the materials it is made of and the workmanship, is usually lower than the face value that it is traded for. This type of currency is called fiat money, and it is used in most countries in the world.

Banknotes allowed for more efficient business transactions but posed a threat of inflation because a government could print as much paper currency as needed, and the increase in banknotes made them less valuable. This problem is still relevant today because some governments still continue this practice, despite the knowledge that inflation is problematic.

Historically banknotes were made from a variety of materials such as paper, wood, leather, seal skin, silk, and other fabrics. Even playing cards and chess pieces have been used in place of banknotes. Currently, the majority of banknotes are made of paper, but some countries use the technology developed in Australia to produce polymer banknotes. They are more durable and secure compared to the paper ones. One of the polymers used for these banknotes is waterproof, so these banknotes should survive machine washes. Most of the banknotes have a horizontal orientation, but some are printed vertically, to reflect people’s tendency to use money vertically.

Electronic Banking and Cards

With the establishment of banks, the virtual currency was introduced. Currently, in many countries, debit and credit cards are an acceptable form of payment. Some vendors recently started accepting another form of digital currency, cryptocurrency, in particular, Bitcoin. However, there are still countries where cash is the only form of money accepted as payment.

Credit card companies and online e-money providers charge fees for currency conversions, but it is now possible to shop in stores using one currency, while holding money or credit in another currency, making it easy to shop online and internationally.

Currency in Different Countries

Most countries have their own currency, which is called legal tender, although currency other than the local one may be accepted. This may be done based on government policy or without a legal basis, simply for convenience especially in tourist areas. This could also happen against the government policy, on the “black market,” even if a penalty is associated with such practice, as in the Soviet Union, for example. Besides tourism, a non-national currency is often used in the country with a less stable economy, especially when the inflation rates are high.

Currently, all currencies use a three-letter code as a way to distinguish between currencies with the same name. The first two letters refer to the country and the third is the initial of the currency name. For example, the code for pounds used in Great Britain is GBP, and for rupees used in India — INR.

Some countries, in particular, the members of the European Union (EU), choose to use the same currency across a group of countries, as the euro was chosen to be used by several member states of the European Union. While this tactic has numerous benefits, such as allowing easier trade between the member countries, it also results in problems, because the economic problems in one or several member countries weaken the currency and cause economic problems in the other member states. In particular, during the financial crisis that started in 2008, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, as well as several neighboring European countries that have close economic relationships with the EU members, became extremely unstable, and there was a fear that their home banking system may default, and the sovereign debt of these countries increased. This caused the instability of the euro.

Fixed Exchange Rate

Some countries fix or peg the exchange rate of their currency to an international currency, for example to the US dollar or the euro, at an exchange rate that does not change. For example, the dollar in Belize is pegged to the US dollar at a rate of two to one. Most of the countries that do this are smaller economies, and this policy helps them control inflation. However, until 2005 China was also one of the countries with the exchange rate of the yuan fixed to the US dollar. In China’s case, the fixed exchange rate was enforced through legislation, prohibiting trading at a different rate. This strategy is difficult to execute because it encourages the emergence of black market currency trading. Another option of maintaining the fixed rate is for a country to keep a stock of foreign currency and to engage in foreign exchange trading, by either buying or selling its own currency as needed, to keep the rate stable.

Foreign Exchange Trading

Trading currencies on the foreign exchange market (FX) happens between private individuals (brokers), companies such as securities dealers and banks as well as regular commercial companies, and governments, who are interested in maintaining the fixed exchange rate, for example. There is a number of models proposed to explain the change in the exchange rates, but none of them are accurate in predicting and explaining this change over a long period of time. Trusts and funds, like the pension fund, also invest money in FX trading. Trading can be done by a person who manually tracks the changes in the market, or electronically. The exchange rate of a given currency pair fluctuates based on many factors, including but not limited to the economy of the countries, the impact of the traders on the currency value, et cetera. The trading happens at any hour between 20:15 GMT on Sunday and 22:00 GMT on Friday.

FX trading allows companies to operate internationally and provides brokers with an income that is made on buying a currency cheaper and selling it for a higher price. People engaged in FX trading since ancient times, charging a fee for the service of exchanging the money. Now about 39% of the trading happens in large volumes between banks and security dealers. Because of the volume of their trades, they have a smaller difference between the bid prices (the highest price to be paid by a buyer) and ask prices (the price that the seller will accept).

Some currency is traded for the use by individuals or companies, in business operations or private transactions. For example, money transfer companies provide services to individuals to trade currency and send it abroad. However, most of the FX trading is speculative. This means that it is bought based on the hope that the price will later rise, and then sold at a higher price to make a profit. Some of the major players in the speculative market are hedge funds. The speculative market, therefore, has a stronger impact on the currency change rates, than do the daily business operations of companies and individuals.

References

This article was written by Kateryna Yuri

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Currency Exchange Rates

The exchange rate between two currencies also known as a foreign exchange rate (FX rate) specifies the value of one currency in terms of another currency for the purpose of conversion. For example, an exchange rate of 84 Japanese yen to the Canadian dollar means that ¥84 is worth the same as CAD 1.

There are two common ways to quote exchange rates: direct and indirect quotations.
• Direct quotation: domestic currency in terms of foreign currency.
• Indirect quotation: foreign currency in terms of the domestic currency.

In direct quotation, also known as price quotation, the exchange rate of the home currency is expressed as equivalent to, for example, 1 or 100 units of the foreign currency. The more valuable is the home currency, the smaller amount of this currency is needed to exchange for a foreign currency. This gives a lower exchange rate. If the home currency becomes less valuable, a lesser amount of foreign currency is needed to exchange for the same amount of home currency. Thus, the direct exchange rate becomes higher and the home currency is depreciating. Under the direct quotation, changes in the exchange rates are inversely related to the changes in the value of the home currency. When the value of the home currency falls, the direct exchange rate rises and vice versa.

Under the indirect quotation, also known as the quantity quotation, the exchange rate of a foreign currency is expressed as equivalent, for example, of 1 or 100 units of the home currency. The more valuable is the home currency, the greater amount of the foreign currency is needed to exchange for a home currency. This gives a higher exchange rate. If the home currency becomes less valuable, a smaller amount of foreign currency is needed to exchange for the same amount of home currency. Thus, the indirect exchange rate becomes lower and the home currency is depreciating. Under the indirect quotation, changes in the exchange rates are in direct proportion to the changes in the value of the home currency. When the value of the home currency falls, the indirect exchange rate drops and vice versa.

In practice, because market makers who match together buyers and sellers usually take a commission, it is rarely possible to exchange currency at the exact rate quoted. This is achieved by using “buy” and “sell” rates, which include overheads and profit margins set by foreign exchange traders. Thus, if a broker wants to buy a foreign currency, he or she would do so at a lesser price, and if a broker were offering to sell this currency, he or she might do so at a higher price.

While using the TranslatorsCafe.com currency converter, please take into account that this currency converter is provided for informational purposes only. Though we strive to obtain the most accurate and timely information available, the exchange rates change rapidly. Therefore TranslatorsCafe.com offers no warranty, express or implied, as to the validity, usability, or accuracy of the results obtained using TranslatorsCafe.com currency converter. Please also note that credit card purchases are automatically converted to your currency by your credit card company. Credit card companies make money on conversion and consequently may use slightly different exchange rates.

Using the Currency Exchange Rates Converter

This online unit converter allows quick and accurate conversion between many units of measure, from one system to another. The Unit Conversion page provides a solution for engineers, translators, and for anyone whose activities require working with quantities measured in different units.

You can use this online converter to convert between several hundred units (including metric, British and American) in 76 categories, or several thousand pairs including acceleration, area, electrical, energy, force, length, light, mass, mass flow, density, specific volume, power, pressure, stress, temperature, time, torque, velocity, viscosity, volume and capacity, volume flow, and more.
Note: Integers (numbers without a decimal period or exponent notation) are considered accurate up to 15 digits and the maximum number of digits after the decimal point is 10.

In this calculator, E notation is used to represent numbers that are too small or too large. E notation is an alternative format of the scientific notation a · 10^x. For example: 1,103,000 = 1.103 · 10⁶ = 1.103E+6. Here E (from exponent) represents “· 10^”, that is “times ten raised to the power of”. E-notation is commonly used in calculators and by scientists, mathematicians and engineers.

• Select the unit to convert from in the left box containing the list of units.
• Select the unit to convert to in the right box containing the list of units.
• Enter the value (for example, “15”) into the left From box.
• The result will appear in the Result box and in the To box.
• Alternatively, you can enter the value into the right To box and read the result of conversion in the From and Result boxes.

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